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New to Safari 6 Pro for iPad and SkyFi questions

Used my Atlas EQ-G mount and SkyFi serial/usb adapter with SkySafari 6 Pro last night for the first time. It was a fumbling failure due to inexperience. The software misalignment was because of a poor NCS alignment. Polaris is obstructed from view at my observation site (my yard).

I frequently get disconnected from the scope in the software "Lost Connection" or something to that affect.Could this be because 1) The iPad at times will lose wifi router connection, and/or 2) because I shut the iPad off to reserve battery life during the long observing session. When I check for wifi connection under iPad "Settings" it displays "No Connection". I think I am working close to the limits of router range. I'll need to figure out a solution to this.

3) Does the software drain less iPad battery when in "night" mode? 

4) Once connected to the scope (in the software) will SkySafari stay opened (displayed) and bypass the iPad's auto shut off for inactivity? And if the iPad does shut off (screen goes dark) automatically (as in not pushing the off/on button on the iPad), will this cause the software to disconnect?

5) In this session, the alignment was so far off when I selected goto Saturn, the scope actually went to the vicinity of Mars. I used the direction arrows in the software to manually target Saturn. Is there a way to re-align the corrected destination of Saturn in the software? I tried "Align" but got the error " target too far from..." or something to that affect.

Once I get Saturn in view using the direction keys in the software, and using a high magnification EP (5mm), Saturn does remain FOV much longer (approx 5 min) than without a motorized mount, most likely from a bad alignment. I used Align Pro's Polaris alignment for daytime solar viewing for a rough alignment. I followed their instructions and made a non-metallic iPad holder connected to the mount saddle to avoid magnetic interference. And, standing back far enough from the obstruction to see Polaris and the scope, it did appear very closely aimed at Polaris, but I'm guessing close is not close enough! But this is another thread perhaps somewhere else!

If it matters, I am using power adapters (not battery power) for the mount and SkyFi. The scope is a 120mm refractor.

Thanks for any help with all these unknowns!

Rich

 

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    Bill Tschumy

    Rich,

    Sorry you are having problems.

    1. When the connection is dropped, does the iPad rejoin some other network?  If so, you should look at the "Auto-Join" setting in the iOS Wi-Fi settings.  Join the SkyFi network and then tap the blue "info" button next to the SkyFi network name.  Make sure "Auto-Join is on.

    2. The iPad should stay connected to the SkyFi network if Auto-Join is ON.  You say that you are "working close to the limits of router range".  Your home router shouldn't be an issue here as you have joined the SkyFi network.

    3. No, there is no appreciable difference in battery drain in night mode (at least that I'm aware of)

    4. There is a SkySafari setting in "Settings > Appearance & Behavior" called "Prevent Sleep".  This should prevent the device from sleeping while SkySafari is the active app.  If the app does sleep, it will drop the connection to the scope, but it should reconnect when brought to the foreground again.

    5. Did you star align the scope with the hand controller before connecting?  With your scope, SkySafari uses the alignment model in the hand controller so it must be valid.

    Hope that helps.

    Bill

     

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